Woman nabbed 7 years after losing false teeth during robbery

Winnipeg police use teeth to get DNA sample

A woman who ran off after robbing a convenience store dropped her partial plate of false teeth and left them behind. The teeth were taken by police who sent them off for a DNA sample. (Shutterstock)

A thief in Winnipeg lost her false teeth, which came back to bite her after police used them to obtain a DNA sample.

The robbery happened in October 2007, when a woman confronted staff at a convenience store in the 800 block of Arlington Street.

She threatened them with a knife and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

But while running off, she dropped her partial plate of false teeth and left them behind. The teeth were taken by police who sent them off for a DNA sample.

A match was recently made to a suspect and on Jan. 22, 2014, a woman was arrested.

Police spokesperson Const. Jason Michalyshen said the woman was recently convicted of another crime and her DNA was entered into a national DNA databank.

That's when the match was made.

"Despite the fact that seven years has passed, these investigations remain open and if new information comes to light, we will pursue an arrest and certainly hold people accountable," Michalyshen said.